North Carolina will crown only 4 — not 8 — high school football state champs next year

North Carolina will crown only four public high school football champions in the 2021 fall season and is trimming the regular season to 10 games, the state’s athletic association announced Thursday.

The N.C. High School Athletic Association’s board of directors decided in their two-day meeting to eliminate the “sub-classification” system in the football playoffs, which has been crowning eight champions annually.

The change is designed to coincide with a new realignment system that is aimed at “equalizing the playing field,” according to NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker.

The state will still crown eight football champions in the 2020-21 season, which was moved from fall to late winter and early spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision comes a few months after the state’s public schools voted against adding a 5A classification for North Carolina’s biggest schools.

As for eliminating the 11th game from the regular season, Tucker said the length of the schedule “is a health and safety issue for our student-athletes. And it brings us in line with most of the rest of the country.”

The association crowns just one champion per classification in all sports except football.

Tucker said the NCHSAA initially split the smallest class, 1A, into 1A and 1AA playoffs to help the smallest schools. She said schools in the 2A, 3A and 4A classes then asked for separate champions, too.

“Next thing we knew, we had requests from all our sports,” she said.

In the past, the NCHSAA has assigned schools to a classification based on their average daily enrollment. The new system will include factors such as overall success in athletics and socioeconomic levels of students.

Tucker said that with the realignment, which is expected to go into effect with the start of the 2021-22 school year, crowning just four football champions should be more equitable.

One Charlotte-area athletic conference, the Southern Carolina 3A, has seen two of its members win state championships in football the past two seasons — Weddington at the 3AA level and Charlotte Catholic at 3A.

Tucker says there are no plans to expand the playoff field. It will remain at 32 teams apiece in the East and West. That means, in effect, that the state will have about half the number of football playoff qualifiers in the fall 2021 season than in the past.

North Carolina crowned one high school football champion from 1913-28, went to two champions from 1929-40, and to three state champions from 1941-58. The four-class system began in 1959, and the “sub-classifications” in football began in 2002.

No change to this school year’s sports calendar

The NCHSAA plans to forge ahead with its calendar of sports for the rest of the 2020-21 school year, and it will be sending millions of dollars in relief to help troubled high school athletic departments.

During its two-day meeting, the NCHSAA’s board of governors voted to stick with the calendar that calls for basketball competition to begin Jan. 4 and football games on Feb. 26, among other sports.

But with local and state COVID-related regulations prohibiting high schools from admitting fans, the board also approved granting a one-time grant of $4 million to the schools. The money will come from the NCHSAA’s Endowment fund.

“This is a historic one-time subsidy,” Tucker said. “It was a major decision that will help our schools.”

Tucker said the state association has not decided exactly how the money will be allocated.

High school athletic budgets have taken a severe beating this season, with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping fans out of events. Athletic directors say expenses have increased, due to COVID testing and other safety protocols. At the same time, revenue has nearly disappeared.

“We have returned to sports, but with less in the way of resources,” said Jerry Simmons, principal at New Bern High School and president of the NCHSAA’s Board of Directors.

“The idea was that the money will help offset some of those financial shortfalls being experienced by our member schools,” Simmons said.

With the rising number of COVID-19 cases across North Carolina and nationally, the NCHSAA’s board discussed the possibility of postponing the start of the basketball season.

Simmons said debate among board members on the topic was “very rich.”

But, he added, “We worried that if we start moving basketball, we would impact other sports down the road.”

Basketball practice for the state’s public schools is scheduled to begin Monday, with games set to start the first week of January. Competition began last month in cross-country and girls’ volleyball and earlier this month in swimming.

“We understand that basketball starting Monday is just the start,” Tucker said. “The season starts Jan. 4. I’m sure a lot will happen before Jan. 4. But we are committed to that schedule.”

Among other fallout from the board’s two-day meeting:

▪ Masks required: Tucker confirmed that unless there is a change in state policy, basketball players will be required to wear masks during practice and games. The NCHSAA’s board voted in its meeting to allow one additional official timeout per quarter, so players can adjust their masks.

“I think our student-athletes are handling this well,” Tucker said. “They adapt better than we adults do.”

▪ Academic eligibility: The board announced it was opposed to a state board of education proposal to waive academic eligibility requirements for student-athletes in the spring semester. The board of education said the lack of in-person education has hurt some students’ ability to succeed in the classroom. Ultimately, the board of education — not the NCHSAA board — will make the call.

▪ Realignment schedule: Tucker said the NCHSAA still plans to release key figures next Thursday in the realignment process. The next realignment of schools will be in effect from the 2021-22 through 2025-2026 school years.

▪ No playoff rescheduling: Tucker also said there will be no rescheduling of playoff games or matches in cases where schools cannot field a complete squad due to COVID-related issues. That apparently means teams will forfeit matches if they cannot play. That happened in at least one case during South Carolina’s high school football playoffs this fall.

Tucker said the regular-season schedule allows for makeup games and matches.

“Once you enter the playoffs, you’ve got to be ready,” Tucker said. “Extending the season is not going to happen.”

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle